


in the still of the night

by afteriwake



Series: nongentorum [54]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Eventual Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, POV Sherlock Holmes, Post-Episode: The Abominable Bride, Sherlock Feels, Sherlock Holmes Has Feelings, Sherlock Holmes Has a Heart, Sherlock Holmes and Drug Use, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Sherlock's Heart, Sherlock-centric, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Kisses, sleepy Molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 14:33:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8060029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Sherlock makes a confession to a half-asleep Molly and gets a surprising response.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stbartsmolly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stbartsmolly/gifts).



> So this was requested a _loooooong_ time ago by **stbartsmolly** for an ask meme on Tumblr where she requested a Sherlolly fic with the prompt " _things you said too quietly_." This is a _teeny_ bit angsty/feelsy but not much but I hope you enjoy it anyway, hun!

“Stay the night. Please.”

He was surprised by her half-awake murmuring and the iron-clad grip on his wrist. He was still feeling some of the effects of his intentional heroin overdose (thank God it hadn’t been lethal; if it had been, he wouldn’t have this moment now) and he had gotten up to leave her side. She was supposed to have stayed awake to keep an eye on him, to keep watch over him as he went through withdrawals, but he wanted to spare her the pain. It wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t nice. He was a horror and a hellion and a tyrant and it brought out the worst in him. Why Mycroft had wanted to put her through it he didn’t know and he had planned on going straight over to his brother’s fortress and parking himself in his study and going through withdrawal there so his brother could have all the fun.

He would spare Molly pain any way he could, any time he could.

And yet she wanted him to stay. Even knowing what was to come, even having an inkling of how bad it all could get, she wanted him to stay beside her all night, stay in the same bed, and stay with her until morning broke.

Slowly he sank back into her bed and he felt her snuggle in next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and nestling her nose into the crook of his neck. She pressed close against him and he was intimately aware of her, and he felt as though his body temperature had went up nine hundred degrees. He wasn’t sure if it was withdrawals or just the fact she was close and oh, he wanted her close. After a moment he held her close, tenderly but loosely, stroking her back gently, running his fingers along her spine.

Soon after that, he pressed a kiss in her hair, shutting his eyes as he did and inhaling the scent of her shampoo and conditioner, a mixture of hibiscus and jasmine. He was enjoying this far more than he had any right to. This was a stolen moment, he knew that. It was perhaps a once in a lifetime moment. He had no hope there would be other times like this, when all was said and done. He had not allowed himself to be tender with her often. He had wished he could, but there had always been reasons not to, barriers to stop him. Sometimes they had been of his own making, sometimes they had been of others making. But there were always barriers and now, for this brief moment, in this room and at this time, there were no barriers. But he would not push. He was not sober and he wanted to be if anything were to happen between them.

But he could talk to her, tell her the honest bare truth of how he felt, bare his soul to her while he cradled her in his arms. He could tell her what was on his heart, what he truly felt about her, what he would do for her. He could make his heartfelt promises to her now while he was at his most vulnerable and, perhaps, while she was half-asleep and might not hear him. It was safest to say them now while there was a chance she may never know the depth of his feelings. If she never knew, it could never be used against him, never be used to hurt him. Not by Molly; she would never do that. But others...others would gladly use his feelings for her to hurt him.

But he still felt them, and he needed to say them, at least once, even if she never heard them.

“I will do anything to keep you safe,” he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, letting his fingers slide up to tangle in her hair slightly. “I will go after anyone that hurts you in any way I need to. I don’t want to see you hurting. I don’t want to see you in pain. You mean too much to me. It’s taken me a long time to realize it, but you are important to me, more important than I think you will ever realize. More important than I think you ever expected to be to me. You are perhaps more important to me, in some ways, even than John, though I would prefer he not know that. It might bruise his ego a bit.” He paused for a moment, not sure if he should make this admission.” I think...” He let his voice drop a little more in volume. “I think I am in love with you, Molly Hooper.”

He let those words waft on the air for a moment and then sink into the silence of the room, swallowed up by the sound of Molly’s steady breathing. Then after a moment he felt the press of lips against his neck, and heard a murmured “I love you too, Sherlock,” from her before her lips pulled away and she snuggled closer. She understood tonight was not a night for taking things to a more physical level. The confessions were enough for now. Knowing she felt the same for him as he felt towards her was more than enough to carry him through the worst of what was to come.


End file.
